Google’s new conversational search was announced less than a week ago and has generated massive amounts of buzz in the few short days since. The new version of Google’s search engine has been formatted to work with natural human speech patterns. Not only does it recognize voice commands regardless of any accent, it can “link concepts” and search based off of previous searches.

A simple “OK, Google,” starts any search, as it does with Google Glasses, and the search engine attempts to “grasp” what the user is trying to find when a command is spoken. For example, “Show me pictures of Santa Monica pier,” can be followed up with “how far is that from here?” without using any specific nouns to describe what the user wants. As Google says, conversational search simply “remembers”.

It’s easy to start a conversation. You simply click the microphone icon on the search box and speak to Google. Although the tool isn’t perfected, it does know that “here” means “user’s present location” and it also understands pronouns when referring to locations or people. If it doesn’t understand, it will simply tell you that it doesn’t, and ask you to search again.

The biggest push with the new conversational Google search is that instead of making a user visit a webpage to gather information on a topic, location, or website, Google has built-in bios for assorted locations that can be edited by the owner (as long as the changes are appropriate to the business). This feature as well has not yet been perfected, but it is currently being tested in select areas. Conversational search is still in the development stage, but the demonstration can be viewed here.

We’ve all respected Google because of the way it drives traffic to websites, blogs, and businesses, and the way these new features are going to change that is not clear at the present time.

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US officials have told several newspapers, such as the Washington Post, that hackers were actually able to not only access US intelligence, but private data such as full credit card numbers and additional information stored on Google servers.

When the original attack happened, the security community was shocked that Google was the first company to come forward and tell the world that it had been hit by a massive hacking attempt that had come from China. They went on to say that the attacks were not only sophisticated, but had successfully stolen valuable information from the leading search engine’s servers.

While it’s still not clear how much information was stolen, the Chinese hackers did enter a database that had hundreds of thousands of US court cases that ordered certain surveillance on people in the US and other countries. This information, especially if the hackers accessed data about their own country, may lead to “disappearing people” as some head underground to avoid being spied on by the US.

But this wasn’t the last hacking attempt that came from China. In fact, as recently as January, another hacking attempt originated from the country and targeted Facebook, Apple, the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft, and a dozen other large players in the US.

Then, earlier this month, the Pentagon published a report saying that the Chinese government has been engaged in worldwide “cyberespionage” that has targeted not only large business networks, but small ones, too.

China denies all involvement in these cyberattacks.

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However, Yahoo has already begun to answer some of the concerns surrounding the acquisition. The company announced that Tumblr will be independently operated and will remain a completely separate business with very little integration of the two companies. Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer decided to use the website herself to try and relieve panicked fans that nothing is going to change anytime soon, although she does plan to make both platforms stronger with the support of the other.

“In terms of working together, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience,” she wrote in her personal Tumblr blog, which can be read in full here.

Mayer compared this new acquisition to Google’s purchase of YouTube or eBay’s purchase of PayPal and said that these were combinations that users have been blissfully unaware of. She plans to do the same with Tumblr.

While Tumblr will likely stay the way it is, Mayer also made a point to say that Yahoo! will monetize Tumblr – but only in a way that will be beneficial to the user experience.

Though Tumblr is Yahoo’s largest purchase yet, Mayer assures it isn’t the last, nor the most powerful.

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Here is the list of passwords released by CBS News:

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football

If any of these passwords look familiar, or if any of your passwords resemble these passwords in any way (for example, “m0nkey” instead of “monkey”), then now is a good time to change your password to something less common.

What Should I Change It To?

Your password doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated to be a good password, but it’s important to avoid information that could be stolen if a website were hacked (such as your birthdate, email, or phone number). Many websites require a capital letter, eight characters, and a number. It’s also a good idea to include a special character such as ! or *.

In addition, creating multiple passwords that you use for different websites is also a good idea. Your Facebook password shouldn’t be the same as your banking password, and your banking password shouldn’t be the same as that of a gaming account. All of your passwords should be easy for you to remember, but exceedingly difficult to guess. Make sure everyone in your organization understands the importance of good password security, and it’s likely you’ll be safer than those who do not educate those at their companies at all.

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You Should Have a Strong Network of Supporters

It may feel a little counter-intuitive to do all the work building the community for a business beforefiguring out how to fund the business itself, but the truth is that the more people you have supporting it, the more luck you’ll have building up a Kickstarter campaign and getting it to take off. Some campaigns take months or years of building to get them going correctly. Although many of the people you’ll be asking to help are personal connections and friends, those are still people who can help you make your business happen.

Prepare Stories Ahead of Time

A magazine or a newspaper may only be read once or twice a week by a person, so the stories can be eternal. It’s more important they really make a deep impression on their readers. But blogging is much different. You need constant content to really capture an audience. But that information can be educational, entertaining, or persuading. It should all help your cause, but it doesn’t all need to be directly about it. If your product is meant to appeal to people who are environmentally friendly, you can write about anything that has to do with going green.

No matter what you do, make sure you’re prepared. You should have customer service agents ready to cover the amount of action you may get from your campaign. Make sure you have answers for your FAQ and that you’re ready to update your Kickstarter regularly in addition to having plenty of stories and a good network of supporters.

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Because you are probably beginning to use your mobile device for more and more things, it’s time that you start taking precautions. Even new technology with good intentions, like Caller ID spoofing, can be turned against you by someone who wishes to infiltrate your phone.

Because our phones often contain important information, taking steps to ensure they remain protected is more important than ever. Here are just a few ways to do so.

Treat Your Voicemail PIN like a Password

We think that our voicemail passwords aren’t important as, say, our banking information. However, if spoofing websites can manage to get into our voicemail accounts, they may be able to access valuable information that is left as a message on your voicemail. For example, they may be able to figure out where you live from which doctor reminds you about an appointment, or they may figure out which bank or credit cards you use because of a different voicemail left. While this information alone can’t do much for a hacker, combined with other information they may have found out about you through other means, it can be deadly.

Only Open Things When You Know the Source

Even if the source appears legitimate – say, from PayPal or from your favorite game – take a moment to verify the source before you open any attachments or click on any links. It’s easy to get information from you or install unwanted software on your computer when you open up links you’re not sure you should trust. And it can happen to you – a malware called DroidDream infected thousands of phones earlier this year, all of which could have been prevented if people had verified the emails they were sent before opening anything.

Remember, it’s important you keep your phone’s data under lock and key, especially if you have a smartphone. Treat your phone like your bank account, and make sure you look at each and every email you open on it closely.

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Just today, PayPal president David Marcus announced that any business, large or small, that dumps the old-style “point-of-sale” system will be welcomed with open arms into the PayPal Here family. PayPal Here is the company’s new mobile processing service that charges a small percentage for every transaction, but doesn’t charge any yearly or monthly fees to maintain. However, if companies ditch their old POS systems within the next week, Marcus says that PayPal Here will be absolutely free for the next seven months.

PayPal Here’s new service offers more payment types than the traditional POS does. “We will offer free credit, debit card, check, and of course PayPal processing for the remainder of the year to any qualifying U.S business turning in their dusty old cash register in exchange for a modern solution like PayPal Here (iPad, card reader, iPad stand, cash drawer, and printer) – ShopKeep, Vend, ERPLY, NCR Silver, and more partners to be announced soon,” said president Marcus in the PayPal blog this morning.

Naturally, PayPal Here has been formed to compete with other mobile-payment systems such as Square. As with Square, PayPal Here allows you to sign up quickly on PayPal. They then send you the reader you attach to your device for free. Download the application, and you’re good to go – with a 2.7% transaction fee after January 1^st of 2014. Square currently charges 2.75% for transactions, but like PayPal, they don’t charge any additional fees.

Mobile payment processing is just the beginning, and PayPal is expected to announce other forms of innovative services within the next year.

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Big Ideas, Small Success

Sometimes big ideas are the beginnings of something amazing, but that doesn’t mean they can be implemented overnight. Small successes are just as important. For example, if an employee has an idea you think could change the face of your company in a good way, don’t discourage it. Let’s say they want to upgrade all of the computers in your business to high-efficiency touchscreens. The employee says this will mean more productive employees and a higher turnover rate for customers on hold. Obviously, this is a big financial undertaking, and will have to be done in doses. Even one or two units to start with is a small step in the right direction. Small successes can lead to large ones over time.

Let Your Employees Do Their Thing

Rules aren’t a bad thing, but sometimes they can stifle creativity. When hiring an employee, you should be looking for someone who can work freely without much supervision once they’ve been taught what they should do. Sometimes, leaving someone with just a direction and not forcing them to do everything a certain way can mean bigger, better ideas. The teams that created some of the most brilliant technology, such as the CD-ROM, never imposed any rules on their employees – employers let them work, and the team developed extraordinary ideas on their own.

Encourage Innovation

Don’t just stand back and let your employees do everything on their own. As their leader, you have a responsibility to set a good example. Be engaged in their activities without being controlling and reward them when they do well and overcome obstacles. Rewards can go from pizza on a late night all the way to an office competition that guarantees a prime parking spot.

No matter what, innovative ideas and creativity are essential in an ever-growing market.

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Is Facebook for You?

Facebook is certainly a powerful tool for any company, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best tool for everyone. It takes time, a good writer, and a fair amount of advertising to build up a Facebook page. Then you have to constantly engage your audience with interesting content several times a day to make any real impact. It’s a lot of work if you’re doing it on your own without another company’s help.

Some audiences that a company needs to target are simply not Facebook users. If your Facebook just isn’t cutting it, have you asked yourself “am I targeting the right audience?” Even Twitter has a completely different following and feel to it, and many businesses find more success using both platforms than just one. Also, consider if your audience would use Facebook at all. If you sell yarn based products, places like Pinterest and Etsy may be better places to look for fans.

Location Targeting

If you hail from Allen, TX, and have local stores there, chances are your business has a grassroots following from that area. In the same way that you would take advantage of that and customize your advertising messages to please those particular groups, customize your Facebook. Facebook even makes it easy for you by providing a geographic targeting feature. The feature is useful because you can target certain regions with campaigns and promotions without creating a new Facebook. This way, you can please all your audiences without presenting irrelevant content to a place that a promotion is not being held.

Taking Advantage of Free Apps

When it comes right down to it, your budget is more important than engaging your fans. If you’re wasting tons of cash just trying to get their interest, you’ve got it all wrong. The payback for every dollar you spend will be minimal, and you want as much bang for your buck as you can manage. Programs like Instagram are free and can create interesting and fun content for your audience to enjoy. You don’t need to hire a professional to do graphic design for you, or any professional content at all. Using a set of well-known free tools can help you keep your Facebook budget to a minimum.

While engaging your Facebook fans is an important aspect to consider, it’s even more important to consider what steps you have to take to keep your Facebook going (if you choose to have one).

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To help you solve this dilemma, here are a couple of steps to think about.

Figure Out How Much Time You Actually Have

Do you have eight hours in a day, or six? Even a few minutes can make the difference between a finished project and one that has to be done tomorrow and considered late. Of course, the amount of time you have will vary by week and sometimes day by day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t at least figure out a rough outline of how much time you do have. Don’t forget to include lunch breaks (they’re required by law in most states).

Prioritize Your List of Projects

Write down your projects. Go through the list and ask the same question for every single one: “how does this project benefit my company?” For example, if you’re working on a website for another company, making sure you get it out on time is more important than updating the screens on your office computers. Having a well-defined and prioritized project list will help your employees stay on the right track.

Fit All Necessary Projects into Allotted Time

This step can be a little tricky, especially if you’re behind on work for any reason. Fitting everything into its set-aside block of time can be almost impossible. Sometimes this step requires negotiation with employees and clients. Once you have the ball rolling and are caught up on all of the things that needed to be done, maintain your rhythm. Remember to allow a little extra time for each project in case of delays or unexpected disasters.

Remember, using your time wisely can make all the difference between a successful business and one that fails before it can really blossom. Take the time to figure out what using your time wisely means to you and you’ll begin to see positive changes.

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